Shankar, formerly of the Bryn Awel Hotel at Mold, is alleged by the prosecution to have taken about £75,000 by making out cheques to himself from the association which runs the highly successful festival.

Shankar admitted two fraud charges but his barrister Simon Rogers said at Mold Crown Court that the defendant accepted the vast majority of the allegations against him, apart from about £8,000.

The judge agreed with both the prosecution and defence that it would make no significant difference to sentence, and there was no need to hear evidence on the issue.

Shankar, who was well known in local business circles, admitted that he defrauded the Mold Hotel and Restaurant Association, set up to run the annual Mold Food Festival.

Shankar, its former chairman, defrauded the association out of about £35,000 during 2007 and about £40,000 during 2008.

The prosecution say he used festival funds to balance the books at his hotel, to make out cheques for his own personal use, and withdrew cash.

Shankar, now living at Tan y Graig in Mold, was rebailed pending sentence in February.

He admitted one charge which said that during 2007, while occupying a position of trust as chairman of the Mold Hotel and Restaurant Association, in which he was expected to safeguard its financial interests, he dishonestly abused that position intending to make a gain for himself.

The second charge covered 2008.

Mr Rogers said that between now and the sentencing hearing, further investigations would take place so that the prosecution and defence could agree how much of the defendant’s own money had been used on behalf of the association.

“The defendant asserts that he made a number of payments from his own account on behalf of the association,” he explained.

Judge John Rogers told the defendant that his guilty pleas would greatly help him when it came to sentence.

He made it a condition of his bail that he co-operates with the probation service in drawing up a pre-sentence report.